Learning To Listen

Learning To Listen To The Voice Of The Lord

We all must learn to listen to and for the voice of the Lord. He does speak to us. But we do not always hear Him or else we do not listen as we should when He does speak to us. It says in His Word that His sheep shall know His voice. Yes we know His voice but we do not always listen to Him when we should.

On Friday, the 27th of April, the children and I were leaving our house to go check the mail at the Post Office. As I locked the door , I heard a voice say," Go back in and get the camera." I heard it distinctly. But I did not heed the voice, which I knew it was the Lord prompting me, yet I did not heed . I went ahead and walked to my SUV and headed out to the Post Office.

On the way I usually take the road that goes by the Lake we live near. As I was driving by I noticed , out of the corner of my eye, a large bird perched on the limb of a dead tree that was sticking up out of the water. I pulled up and stopped the vehicle and my breath caught as the bird was a Bald Eagle. I knew right then and there that I should have heeded the Lord's voice. The children were all excited because it is not every day that one gets to see a Bald Eagle. So I said a pray. I said, " Lord if You keep the Eagle here I will drive back to the house and get my camera so I can get a picture of it. And from now on I will listen when I hear You prompting me to do something no matter what it is."

So I drove back to the house, ran in and got my camera. We drove back down the Lake road and the Bald Eagle was eating a fish it had caught and was perched on the same tree branch. I thanked the Lord for keeping it there. The children were ecstatic as was I. We watched it for a while before I decided to get out of the vehicle and try to get some pictures of it. Of course I only have a small digital Kodak camera that does not zoom in too well. I took a couple of pictures of the Bald Eagle perched on the tree branch before it noticed me. I walked towards it a little more and spooked it because it took to flight. It was so awesome to see this amazing bird take to wing. It rose in the air spread it's wings and turned in the opposite direction from me and flew. I saw the sun glistening off of it's white head and white tail feathers and I was in awe. I did not get any close up pictures but just being able to see the Eagle in all it's glory was enough. I was praising God that I got to see His creation, this magnificent Bald Eagle.

I turned and walked back to the SUV and the children were so excited. They had the SUV bouncing because they were in there bouncing up and down. I opened the door and they were praising the Lord also, for getting to see the Bald Eagle. We were so in awe and praiseful. I handed the camera to Elizabeth and then we drove on to the Post Office.

As I was driving I told them about me not listening to the Lord when I should have, when He spoke to me about going back into the house and getting my camera. I told them , God gave me a second chance to do His bidding but He does not always do this. Sometimes if we do not heed His voice , we will not get a second chance. I shared this with them so they would know that they need to heed God's voice when He speaks to them.

It is not always something great that God wants us to do when He speaks to us. He speaks to us to see whether we will heed His voice or not. We are tested in this way by the Lord , sometimes we pass the test but we also fail it sometimes. I failed that test but God gave me another chance. I and all of us need to learn to heed God's voice when He speaks to us because we may not get another chance.

I learned my lesson and also my children got to learn through me, by my sharing with them about me not heeding God's voice. God allowed me to use what I did , to turn it into an opportunity to teach my children. I make mistakes, I am not perfect and God knows this. Yet He still loves each of us and if we are repentant He accepts us and forgives us. I encourage each one of us, that the next time we hear God's voice urging us to do something, no matter how odd it may seem to us, to please heed His voice. Because we may never get another chance to make right what we did not listen to from the Lord.

Watching

I was looking out my window this morning watching a Mourning Dove that had perched upon my wooden swing, that is in the backyard. I have three bird feeders in my backyard and this Mourning Dove was watching the other birds at the feeder and the birds that were on the ground looking for any dropped seeds. It was as if the Mourning Dove was watching the others to see what they were doing. He just sat there as if he was pondering them. He made no attempt to fly to the feeders but was content, for a while, to just watch the other birds interacting and feeding. Eventually he decided to fly down and intermingle and eat with the other birds, chasing some away that got a little too boisterous or aggressive while eating in peace with others.

It struck me that God watches us in much the same way as this Mourning Dove was watching these other birds. God observes us to see how we are going to react when faced with a situation in which we have to struggle, or in which we are tested and tried. He watches to see if we give in to the harassment and demands of others and run from or give in to the trials or to see if we stand and seek Him for help. He watches us to see whether we withstand the test that we are being tested in. If we seek Him, then He will come to us and help us. Just as this Mourning Dove chased off the birds, that were being boisterous and aggressive towards it and the other birds, God will intervene and help us in the situations of trial, temptations, testing, the very battles that we face in our life.

God comes to us but we have to seek Him. We have to become humbled, to the point, to where He knows we are earnest in our seeking Him. God will help us, He will uplift us. He will hear our cry for help when the world and it's ways seek to encompass us. Trust in the Lord and He will deliver you.

Remember He is watching. He is in the Heavens watching us to see if on His name we do call when we are in the throes of temptations and battles or if we give in to those temptations and battles. He is just waiting for us to seek Him and ask His forgiveness and help. When we become humbled unto Him then He will come down to us and forgive us and uplift us from the midst of the battle and out of the temptations that seek to drown us.

God is watching.

I got an email from a dear friend today. I replied in email to my Little Brother and I thought I need to share this with others, the way the Lord led me to share with him, I also need to share with others what God gave me to share with my Little Brother. He is in some ways wiser in the Lord than I am. God blesses us with others in our life to help us in so many ways. That is awesome.


God is awesome. He is teaching me some things I need to know and some of them have not been easy to accept as I have had to eat humble pie, so to speak. I thought I was humble at the time but God let me know I needed to be humbler. And so He showed me this and I did as He asked of me and He is at work. I have had to reach the depths of the valley to get humbled to where He wanted me to be and put self out of the way. Once I did this He made known to me what He wanted to.

I had to take a deep look at myself and see myself as He saw me. And some of want I saw about myself made me realize that I am a harsh person in some aspects. I know when it comes to Him and His Word we have to be disciplined and strict but I had allowed this to carry over to other areas of my life. Too much so it seems. But now that I know this I am working to change me. I can't change others but I can change me to be more of who God wants me to be.

Sometimes the lessons taught by the Lord are hard to take but I know that He only wants what is best for us, His children. God has lifted me up so many times and once again He lifted me up . I still have a ways to climb and a lot to learn but one day after while I am going to be with Him. I look forward to that day.

Sometimes we have to do a little sacrificial living in order to be at the point to where God wants us to be in order to fully realize what God wants of us. Sometimes this is what it takes for us to listen to Him, for Him to get our attention. I am a selfish person. When I gave up to God the one thing that I wanted most and left it in His hands, He started taking action. I thought I could help Him but I truly realized that it was I who was hindering Him and what He wanted to do. So I gave up what I wanted and said to Him to do as He wanted things to be and He is working. I see Him working and I am repentant first for thinking I could change things when truthfully I never could on my own, and thankful that God is a forgiving God and that He after I gave up what I wanted has started to work on it all. I had to give it up for Him and to Him and then He let me see the awakening of what He wants to be done in all of this. I have to be submissive to God and follow His lead and His will for my life for without Him I have nothing. I am thankful that God saw fit to chasten me. I am thankful also that I realized that He was chastening me and letting me know to let go and let Him do as He knew was best for me.

How Are You Praying?

Have you ever asked God for something and you did not get the thing you asked for ? Was the thing you asked for something that would benefit you in a worldly way ? Would what you ask for bring you wealth that you might misuse to fulfill your own lust ? Did you ask for God to give you a specific person as a potential spouse and God did not give you that person because you only wanted to fulfill your lust for this person ? Was the thing you asked for something that would strictly benefit you and allow you to fulfill a lust or hunger that you had that was not of God ?

Well there was a reason that you did not receive that which you asked for. It tells us why we sometimes do not get what we ask for , if we ask for something that is wrong to ask for, within the pages of the Bible. The below verse tells us why we do not receive when we ask for things that will feed our own lust.


Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon
your lusts.
James 4:3

So the next time you pray and ask God for something weigh it in the balances, what it is that you seek to receive. Make certain that you are not asking something of God that you will use to satisfy your own lust. For God holds no part with the world nor those who seek to serve the world and themselves. Be careful of what you pray for and how you pray for it.

Running From God ?

Are you running from God ? Are you not fulfilling the promises that you made God ? Are you avoiding, doing what you told God you would do in order to do what you want to do ?

Do you think that God does not know you are avoiding doing what you promised Him you would do ? Do you think God has forgotten about what you promised Him ? Do you think God allows you to change your promises to Him ? The Bible, God's Word says that a man is bound by the promises he makes until death. This means that if you make a promise then you are bound to keep that promise until you die. If you do not keep that promise then you are lost. Knowingly making a promise to God and then breaking that promise is knowingly committing sin and it will cost you in the end.

I know of a Preacher, who is a friend of mine. He promised God a long time ago that he would preach for the Lord. But before he got started preaching, even though he had promised God that he would preach for Him, he decided that he couldn't. That he was just not ready to keep his promise to God that he had made. My friend thought that he could run from doing what he promised God. He thought that he could do things his way. That he could do things when he was ready. It did not matter that God wanted him to keep his promise , he wanted to do things his own way and in his own time. But he found out the hard way that if you make a promise to God and you run from that commitment, God will set you down and chastise you in a way you don't want to be chastised in.

My friend thought he had got away from keeping his promise to God. Well my friend is married and has 3 daughters. His wife is a daughter of a Preacher. His wife knew what he had promised God and knew that he was running from God, even though he pretended he was not.

Well their oldest daughter got sick and had to be hospitalized. The doctors and the specialist discovered that she had a rare form of Meningitis . She was to the point of death. They said they had done all they could for the girl and that it was in God's hands now. My friend was driving to the hospital when God spoke to him. In his car driving down the freeway, God spoke to my friend.

God said to him," You are running from me. You did not do what you promised me you would do. And now where are you ? What is wrong with your child ? You promised to serve Me, to preach My Word, yet you did not do as you said you would. Where is your child, now ? She is in my hands. Her life is in my hands."

My friend had to stop and pull over to the side of the road. He cried out to God and repented of his sin against God of not keeping his promise. He said to God ,"I will preach for You, heal my daughter please. I will no longer run. I will do that which I promised, just save my daughter."

My friend got back on the road and continued to the hospital. His wife and the doctors, the specialists met him. It seemed his daughter had made a miraculous recovery and was no longer in danger. God had touched her and healed her. He rejoiced, he told his wife what had happened on his drive to the hospital. She wept tears of joy. Their daughter came home a few days later and my friend started preaching for the Lord God that next Sunday. He got a second chance to correct and follow through on what he promised God. But it took him almost losing his daughters life ,over not keeping his promise to God, before he opened his eyes up and stopped running from God.

Don't you be in the position that my friend was in. Don't put yourself in that place. My friend almost lost his daughter because he wanted to do things in his own way and in his own time. But God corrected him. Not everyone who goes against God gets a second chance. I encourage anyone who has promised God things, to keep those promises because if you don't you will lose your soul to hell. You may not get a second chance the way my friend did. That would be horrible if you made promises to God and did not keep them and ran from God and what you promised Him and never got another chance to atone for the wrong you did God.

Can you say that you have been true to God ? Can you truthfully, beyond the shadow of a doubt, say that you have been true to God and the promises you made Him ? If you can't then it is time to repent and do that which you promised God you would do. He is waiting with open arms to take you back in. Don't turn Him away ,you might lose something or someone you hold dear by not keeping the promises you made to God. God does not take promises made to Him lightly.

God never said it would be easy serving Him. In fact He told us we would suffer for Him. I worry for anyone who has made promises to God and decided not to keep those promises to Him. I would not want to be in that person's shoes come judgement day. Don't make promises to God unless you intend to keep them. Because if you don't keep them you will forfeit your soul to hell. If you keep them, then God will use you and bless you in your doing what you promised Him. You can't run from God. You can try but sooner or later God is going to set you down and you will be chastised by Almighty God.

Heartfelt

Have you ever had a heavy feeling in your heart. One that lets you know that someone you care about is in need of prayer. That they are burdened by something and your heart is burdened for them. I had this feeling this morning when I awoke and so I prayed.

I always pray when I have this burdened feeling on my heart because I know that God is urging me to pray for someone. Prayer is our way of intimately communing with God. God gave us prayer for a purpose and that was to use it to pray, to petition, to thank Him and just to talk with Him when we feel the need to.

Have you ever awoken at night with the feeling that you need to pray, or just with a heavy feeling of burden on your heart ? If so, how have you handled this ? Have you gotten up and prayed ? Have you laid there and prayed ? Or did you just turn over and try to push it out of your mind and heart and go back to sleep ?

When I am awoken, in the midst of the night or early morning hours, with this burdened feeling I get up and kneel beside my bed and pray. Sometimes I do not know who I have this burden for , while at other times God makes it clear for whom I am praying at the time. But I have to get up and pray because if I did not I would be doing God an injustice as He placed it upon my heart to pray for another. If you feel this urging, this burden upon your heart and do not know why, pray about it and ask God to help whomever is, in need of prayer. He will listen. He is the one who burdened your heart to pray in the first place.

Don't turn away from what God is urging you to do. After you pray the burden will be lifted from your heart. God is using you in His service to pray for others. He will visit this burden upon you at different times. Sometimes during the day, sometimes at night God may burden your heart to pray for someone. That someone could be yourself or it could be a friend, a family member or even someone you do not know. But please when you feel the burden in your heart to pray even if you do not know who for or what for, pray to God. Talk with Him about it. He knows the why, so take it to Him in prayer.

There is nothing that can take the place of heartfelt prayer. When you feel something in your heart it is heartfelt. That is why your heart feels burdened with prayer, it is a heartfelt burden and nothing better to treat a heartfelt burden with than heartfelt prayer. I urge you , the next time you feel this burden in your heart to pray, to please pray and not turn away from what God is calling you to do.


Remember there is nothing better to treat a heartfelt burden with than heartfelt prayer.

Keeping you all in my prayers.

Beauty

The children and I went on a walk today. There is a field of wild Daffodils blooming a short distance from our house and we decided to walk there and take some pictures of them. It was so beautiful to just look at the flowers with their yellow head bobing in the breeze. We took several pictures of the flowers . I posted the link below to the site I posted them on if anyone wants to view them.

http://www.christian.net/messages.php?forum=252&topic=13574

If the link doesn't work by clicking on it just copy and paste it into your browser and it should work. If not let me know, please.

But what struck me is the beauty of God's design. These flowers are growing wild in this field and in the surrounding woods. They have spread overtime to cover an area about a half an acre across. This made me think about the parable in the Bible that Jesus spoke of concerning sowing seeds on stony ground and on good ground. Some take root and some grow while others whither and die. These flowers were planted and left alone to see whether or not they would grow and multiply or whether they would die. These flowers grew and multiplied.


Now the parable that Jesus used of the seeds was about sowing the Word of God. To see whether the Word you shared with others about the Lord would grow and multiply or whither and die. Just as these flowers grew so too does the Word of God when it falls upon a fertile heart. A heart and soul that is ready and willing to receive what God has to offer it. Just as these flowers received the nourishment they needed from God in order to grow and multiply so too will and does anyone who turns their life over to God. God will prosper you and make you to multiply if you stay true to Him and His calling for you. It is truly amazing to see things grow over the course of time. But think how much more it means to God to see each of us, His children, grow over the course of time.

God is amazing. It is wonderful to help sow the seeds of God's Word to others and to watch it take root within them and grow. It is amazing to witness with your own eyes someone come to Christ and to help and watch them grow in the Lord. The flowers receive the rain, the nutrients they need to grow just as a child of God receives the instruction , love and all that they need to grow in Him.

It is wonderful to be a part of God's creation and even more awesome to help others to grow in Him and through Him. The Lord has wonderful plans for His children. He will prosper and multiply us , His children. This He says in His Word, the Holy Bible. I Love the Lord and I am His child. I thank Him for such a wonderful day to be able to view the beauty of the creations that He, Himself has made. God is Awesome.

Luke 8:5-18

Luke 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?

10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

16 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.

17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.